Cake decorating help please! I’m making sugar ice cubes

Question

I’m making a ‘beer Barrel’ cake with ‘ice cubes’ on top with tiny liquor bottles.
I made the ice cubes and they turned out good but after sitting a few hours they lost their shape. The ice cubes ares made by cooking sugar and corn syrup to 250F degrees.
I don’t know how to get them to keep their shape. Any ideas?

Dona · Answer

I sent you a pic on Instagram. Hope it works and not stalkerish.

Dona · Answer

Last time

Dona · Answer

I apologize for all these unsuccessful posts.  I made the picture smaller but I can’t get it to post.

Dona · Answer

Trying again

Dona · Answer

Trying again

Dona · Answer

Trying again

Dona · Answer

I want to show you! I’ll get some advice on how to make the pic smaller.

aargersi · Answer

Dang we want to see it!

Dona · Answer

I attached a photo but maybe it’s too big, it won’t load. I don’t know how to make it smaller. It turned out great.

Dona · Answer

The finished cake, the twine will be replaced with ribbon to look like the metal bands around the barrel.

Dona · Answer

Thanks! This is a cake for my granddaughter’s boyfriend’s  21st birthday. So she wanted an over the top ‘boozy’ look. In a fun way of course.

Dona · Answer

Thanks Drbabs, I’m cooking a new batch how, I’ll take the temp up.
I have a thermopen that’s as accurate as I can get. I make toffee all the time and take the temp to 300. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that instead of just following the instructions. Duh, I need to stop and remember what I know from experience.
Thanks!

aargersi · Answer

I just wanted to pop in and say that those are super cool!Dr Babs covered the actual answer 🙃

drbabs · Answer

Wow, those are gorgeous. So ambitious! Candy making is really tricky. It seems like 250F is the low end of the hard ball stage of cooked sugar.
(See this chart. https://www.joyofbaking.com/StagesOfCookedSugar.html) You probably need to go up about 10-15 degrees to get them to hold their shape. (Make sure your thermometer is accurate, too.) Also, once they’re made, you probably want to avoid exposing them to moisture, so if it’s very humid, they may soften a bit. I’ve kept candy in the refrigerator for that reason.

Good luck! Please post your results and the final cake!

Cake decorating help please! I’m making sugar ice cubes

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